"Quicksand" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. This ballad features multi-tracked acoustic guitars and a string arrangement by Mick Ronson. Producer Ken Scott, having recently engineered George Harrison's album All Things Must Pass, attempted to create a similarly powerful acoustic sound with this track.[1]
Lyrically the song, like much of Bowie's work at this time, was influenced by Buddhism, occultism, and Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of the Overman.[2] It refers to the magical society Golden Dawn and name-checks one of its most famous members, Aleister Crowley, as well as Heinrich Himmler, Winston Churchill and Juan Pujol (codename: Garbo).[3]
[edit] Reception
NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray have described it as "Bowie in his darkest and most metaphysical mood",[2] while a contemporary review in Rolling Stone remarked on its "superb singing" and "beautiful guitar motif".[4]
[edit] Other releases
- It was released as the B-side of the single "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" in April 1974.
- RCA included the song in the picture disc set Life Time.
- A demo version of the song was released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc release of Hunky Dory in 1990.
[edit] Cover versions
[edit] References
Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5
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